Spiritual graces give us surety of our salvation. This devotional reading looks at how faith gives us eternal life.
Nuggets
Jesus doesn’t lose us because we have gained spiritual graces.
Jesus doesn’t lose us because we have been eternally saved.
In the How Christ Doesn’t Lose Us series in the Surety of Salvation study, we’ve looked at how Jesus doesn’t lose us because our sins are forgiven and renewed us as we are reconciled to God.
Now, we are going to look at how our graces are confirmed, giving us eternal life, and how we are eternally saved.
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in the Habitual Holiness of Heart and Life theme, click the button below.
Here is a running list of nuggets for the theme.
Devotions in the The Surity of Our Salvation study
Here is a running list of nuggets for the study.
The foundation of this study is Beveridge’s sermon The Believer’s Safety
Resource
The headings are Beveridge’s words.
Their Graces Confirmed
“but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers” (Lk. 22: 32)
Jesus doesn’t lose us because we have gained spiritual graces.
The conversation in Luke 22 took place shortly before Jesus headed to the Garden of Gethsemane. They were still in the Upper Room after having finished the Passover Meal and the Lord’s Supper.
The betrayal and arrest were still a little bit into the future. All the disciples would feel — right or wrong — that their lives were in danger.
Jesus was specifically concerned about Peter. He knew that he would betray Him before the night was over.
What Jesus prayed for was increased faith for Peter. Faith is a gift from God and a work of the Spirit that enhances the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives and distinguishes us from others.
Glossary
Jesus prayed for Peter’s spiritual condition. Our spiritual well-being is always His priority.
Jesus knew that Satan was asking for Peter. We don’t exactly know what that entails. It doesn’t matter.
Satan always wants us so that we cannot fulfill the purpose God has in mind for us.
So, Jesus was praying that Peter would not sin. Sin is not believing that Jesus is our Savior to save us from our actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holy means to be set apart — because of our devotion to God — to become perfect, and morally pure while possessing all virtues and to serve and worship God.
- Perfectionmeans we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
- Pure means not being sinful or having the stain of sin.
- Virtues are standards of moral excellence.
- Perfectionmeans we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
Glossary
Was Jesus’ prayer not answered? Yes, it was answered.
The answer was just no. We needed to see Peter’s struggle and failure.
And we needed to see Jesus restoring Peter (Jn. 21).
We are going to sin. We are going to think Jesus no longer considers us a brother or sister. We think God is going to slam the door shut as He kicks us out of the family.
Why didn’t They do that to Peter — and to us? Valentine explained that. He wrote, “Faith is the special element of the Christian’s security.”
Resource
Faith was never Peter’s problem. He identified Jesus as the Christ (Mt. 16: 16) right away.
We can have faith and still let Satan lead us into sinning.
That is why growing in grace and knowledge (II Pet. 3: 18) means growing our faith.
Remember, faith is a spiritual grace. Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God and elevated to His character in order to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
When we have spiritual graces, that means we are imitating Jesus. If we are imitating Jesus, we are growing God’s character within us.
We can gain by sinning. We are assured that God will forgive us when we ask. We are shown areas within us that we need to turn over to God.
This really brings home that “… all things work together for good …” (Rom. 8: 28 ESV) — good and bad. God will use whatever happens to us to grow us when we love Him.
That doesn’t give us license to sin. It just means God uses everything to get us where we need to be — like Him.
Did you ever stop and realize what isn’t in our marching orders?
- “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt. 28: 19-20 ESV)
- “And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation’” (Mk. 16: 15 ESV).
They aren’t about growing our faith. It is about us helping to strengthen the faith of others.
How many times has one of our sins been used to strengthen the faith of others? Probably more times than we know.
Their Souls Eternally Saved
“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (I Jn. 5: 11-13 ESV)
Jesus doesn’t lose us because we have been eternally saved.
What is eternal life? It is easy to think that we will not experience death. “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb. 9: 27 ESV).
That means that mankind in this form will not live forever. This physical body will cease to function.
We know that believers are ensured eternal life, but that doesn’t mean the end for non-believers. Collyer helped us with this. He wrote,
“When it is said ‘once to die,’ a resurrection from the dead and life after death are implied. Otherwise, had death been the extinction of being, it would have been sufficient to have said simply ‘to die’; for what could have remained beyond it to render repetition possible? One awful truth is established — that, dying once, we can die no more. Whatsoever state, therefore, we enter, whether of happiness or of misery, is eternal.”
Resource
In other words, everyone — believer and non-believer — are going to live forever. The emphasis is not on the eternal part — the quantity part.
The emphasis is on the life part — the quality part. Where we live is going to determine how we live.
Non-believers — those who do not have their names written in the Book of Life — will spend eternity in torment. “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20: 15 ESV).
Believers will be as Jesus is and spend eternity in Paradise. “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son” (Rev. 21: 7 ESV). We are going to talk about conquering in a little bit.
So, eternal life is really addressing the wellbeing of our soul. Will it experience spiritual death?
But here is where it gets tricky. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” (I Jn. 5: 13 ESV).
John is writing to believers. We don’t know who the recipients of the letter were because that part was lost. It could have been one of the Asian churches, because he founded some of them. It could have been the Ephesian church because he spent some time there.
We do know he was writing to believers. “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God …” (I Jn. 5: 13 ESV).
Because we are disciples (not just believe but are growing in faith and knowledge), we are assured of eternal life.
Wilson said something interesting. He wrote, “It seems clear from the Word of God that it [eternal life] is attained in this world and not in the world to come. Men do not go to heaven to get it, but they go to heaven because they have it.”
True believers have eternal life now. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (Jn. 5: 24 ESV).
How does that all fit into the surety of our salvation? If we have made a genuine profession of faith, we know we have eternal life now.
How do we have eternal life now if it is quality of life? We are content in our lives as disciples.
Making the Connections
What I am getting out of this is the surety of our salvation is our faith. It is more than just believing. It is accepting that as gospel truth.
Faith is believing sight unseen. We know God is real without every meeting Him face to face.
We know our salvation is real because God has said it is when we submit ourselves to Him.
How Do We Apply This?
- Genuinely ABCD.
- Be content now.
Father God. Lord, we don’t understand everything, but we believe You are Sovereign God. We don’t understand why You would love us, but we are so thankful that You do. Help us to not take our focus off You, because when that happens doubts slip in. We want to be totally committed to You. Amen.
What do you think?
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